The Greatest Plays of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
90 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
127 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
143 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
213 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
234 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
249 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
258 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
293 The Tempest William Shakespeare 1623 British English
333 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
452 Electra Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
464 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
516 Lysistrata Aristophanes -411 Greek Ancient greek
528 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
537 Tartuffe Molière 1664 French French
595 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare 1595 British English
612 Philoctetes Sophocles -409 Greek Ancient greek
611 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
613 Ajax Sophocles -440 Greek Ancient greek
623 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
624 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
639 Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand 1897 French French
656 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
679 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
721 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
796 The Birds Aristophanes -414 Greek Ancient greek
827 Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw 1913 British English
844 The Clouds Aristophanes -423 Greek Ancient greek
856 The Persians Aeschylus -471 Greek Ancient greek
885 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
939 The Suppliants Aeschylus -463 Greek Ancient greek
939 Seven Against Thebes Aeschylus -467 Greek Ancient greek
1047 The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams 1944 American English
1054 Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 1602 British English
1161 Le Mariage De Figaro Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais 1784 French French
1200 Hippolytus Euripides -428 Greek Ancient greek
1233 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Tom Stoppard 1966 British English
1242 Our Town Thornton Wilder 1938 American English
1322 Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
1377 She Stoops to Conquer Oliver Goldsmith 1773 British English
1401 Selected Plays of George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw 1976 Irish English
1412 The Bald Soprano Eugène Ionesco 1950 French French
1414 Arcadia Tom Stoppard 1993 British English
1416 The Imaginary Invalid Molière 1673 French French
1425 The Misanthrope Molière 1666 French French
1427 No Exit Jean Paul Sartre 1944 French French
1471 Mother Courage and Her Children Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
1484 The Seagull Anton Chekhov 1896 Russian Russian
1532 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
1609 Rhinoceros and Other Plays Eugène Ionesco 1959 Romanian French
1618 Angels In America Tony Kushner 1991 American English
1620 Le Cid Pierre Corneille 1637 French French
1655 King Ubu Alfred Jarry 1896 French French
1671 Henry IV, Part I William Shakespeare 1597 British English
1701 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
1702 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
1728 The School For Scandal Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1777 British English
1757 Murder In The Cathedral T. S. Eliot 1935 British English
1828 As You Like it William Shakespeare 1600 British English
1940 Saint Joan George Bernard Shaw 1923 Irish English
1948 Alcestis Euripides -438 Greek Ancient greek
1987 The Satin Slipper Paul Claudel 1929 French French
2016 The Works of Moliere Molière 1666 French French
2079 Don Juan Molière 1665 French French
2080 The Would-Be Gentleman Molière 1670 French French
2089 The Miser Molière 1668 French French
2135 Travesties Tom Stoppard 1974 British English
2155 The Homecoming Harold Pinter 1965 British English
2170 Much Ado about Nothing William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2194 The White Devil John Webster 1612 British English
2262 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2284 Miss Julie August Strindberg 1888 Swedish Swedish
2285 True West Sam Shepard 1980 American English
2295 Henry V William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2334 The Collected Plays of W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats 1934 Irish English
2348 The Norman Conquests Alan Ayckbourn 1973 British English
2596 Waiting For Lefty Clifford Odets 1935 American English
2601 The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare 1590 British English
2600 The Caucasian Chalk Circle Bertolt Brecht 1944 German German
2686 Machinal Sophie Treadwell 1928 American English
2717 The Father August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
2824 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
2827 Volpone Ben Jonson 1607 British English
2838 Antigone Jean Anouilh 1944 French French
2957 The Complete Plays of Jean Racine Jean Racine 1677 French French
2960 The Way Of The World William Congreve 1700 British English
2964 Plays Pierre Corneille 1641 French French
2994 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3001 Noises Off Michael Frayn 1982 British English
3028 Three plays Paul Claudel 1912 French French
3031 Jumpers Tom Stoppard 1972 British English
3031 The Lady's Not For Burning Christopher Fry 1948 British English
3114 No Man's Land Harold Pinter 1975 British English
3128 Blue Bird Maurice Maeterlinck 1908 Belgian French
3334 The Collected Plays Of Noel Coward Noel Coward 1979 British English
3387 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3387 The Works Of John Dryden John Dryden 1808 British English
3387 The Rivals Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775 Irish English
3591 The Theater and Its Double Antonin Artaud 1938 French French
3594 The Dybbuk S. Ansky 1914 Russian Yiddish
3607 Nathan the Wise Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 1779 German German
3648 The Little Tragedies Alexander Pushkin 1832 Russian Russian
3690 Everyman Unknown 1501 Unknown Middle english
3732 The Blood Knot Athol Fugard 1961 South African English
3732 The Changeling Thomas, William Rowley Middleton 1622 British English
3732 Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων Iakovos Kambanellis 1962 Greek Greek
4003 Private Lives Noel Coward 1930 British English
4002 Love’s Labour’s Lost William Shakespeare 1598 British English
4004 Five Plays Goran Stefanovski 1982 Macedonian Macedonian
4014 The Complete Plays of T. S. Eliot T. S. Eliot 1969 British English
4089 The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
4089 The School for Wives Molière 1662 French French
4089 The Last Days of Mankind Karl Kraus 1919 Austrian German
4477 Master Harold...And The Boys Athol Fugard 1982 South African English
4808 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams 1955 American English
4971 Awake And Sing! Clifford Odets 1935 American English
5078 Major Barbara George Bernard Shaw 1905 British English
5133 The Plough And The Stars Sean O'Casey 1926 Irish English
5138 Saved Edward Bond 1965 British English
5146 The Ghost Sonata August Strindberg 1907 Swedish Swedish
5148 The Beggar's Opera John Gay 1728 British English